Design Shop
Search Advanced Search
 Location:  Home » History of Design » Advertising » It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be  
It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be
It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be

 enlarge 
Author: Paul Arden
Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd
Category: Book

List Price: £4.95
Buy Used: £0.33
You Save: £4.62 (93%)



New (44) from £1.18

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 23 reviews
Sales Rank: 1671

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.6 x 0.6

ISBN: 0714843377
Dewey Decimal Number: 158.1
EAN: 9780714843377
ASIN: 0714843377

Publication Date: May 31, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

  • Paperback - John Fitzgerald Kennedy - 21 Ccopy Tower Display
  • Paperback - It's Not How You Are It's How Good You Want to Be

Similar Items:

  • Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite
  • A Technique for Producing Ideas (McGraw-Hill Advertising Classic)
  • God Explained in a Taxi Ride
  • Ogilvy on Advertising
  • The Art of Looking Sideways

Customer Reviews:   Read 18 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars A Nice Way to Spend an Hour   August 6, 2008
For the price of this book you cannot go wrong buying it . It is a quirky little thing and good fun to read - or rather 'flick through'. I bought it after reading Paul Arden's obituary in the Telegraph in which the book was mentioned. As you would expect from a Creative Director this book has been produced in a very creative way. Frankly, I think it is worth buying just for that. However, in it you will also find lots and lots of useful career and business tips. Well worth having on your bookshelf.


5 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and useful for everyone   July 26, 2008
Paul Arden's book is a like a breath of fresh air compared to many help or guidebooks out there. The way he combines the images and photographs to highlight the message of the text reflects why he's so well renowned. For someone who isn't involved with advertising or marketing I expected to take away only a limited amount from reading this book. I was pleasantly surprised.

The snapshot way in which the ideas are presented keeps you constantly engaged and thinking. Thought provoking ideas such as - "Don't look for the next opportunity, the one you have in hand is the opportunity" and how we might want to get off a certain job but it could just be the best work we ever do. The idea of "Don't put on a speech, give a show" really hit home. I do speeches and thought that's why people were there, Paul tells us differently.

There's a lot here that everyone who want's to think and act differently will benefit from. A book that you'll read in one sitting and then read over and again. So in case you didn't know, don't covet your ideas and present on a Tuesday.



4 out of 5 stars Great thinking from the ad industry   May 4, 2008
This books is a great collection of many ideas, thoughts, ironies and creative thinking from the ad industry. Plus a few new thoughts. I've bought loads of these (and Purple Cow) and given them away to clients, desperate to get them to think a little more creatively. I use it with students as well. A must read (and the second book). Quick to read and easy, maybe that's why it's sold over 1/2 million. Paul was regarded as one of the great all time creatives within advertising but sadly he died recently - a great loss to the ad community.


2 out of 5 stars Snake oil   April 12, 2008
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful


I have no doubt that Arden was a genius in the field of advertising. However, this little volume is like some of Edward De Bono offcuts with random graphics,

fine if it fell out of a cereal packet or a xmas cracker, but 5 for this book is a joke.

Arden's big phrase was 'astonish me' - he was obviously too astonished to make any effort with the writing of this book. The only astonishing thing here is that 1500 words of meretricious garbling can cost a fiver.

Paaarp



1 out of 5 stars glib   April 7, 2008
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

I read this book in a bookshop in about half an hour.

The advice is often utterly foolish.

For instance, anyone with half a brain knows that, irksome though it may be, a college qualification is an essential "gateway" into most firms, though perhaps it wasn`t when Arden himself was starting out, and the advertising industry was still in its infancy in the UK.

It`s also the case that, although the unusual routes to success aremore newsworthy, conventional methods exist for a reason, and following them is therefore advisable (dreary though that may be).

I`d add, as an artist, that this book suggests a glib attitude to creativity, as if one can simply begin a project utterly detached form tradtitions, a past, previous solutions etc.

The design of this book is enjoyable however.



Design Counts